Vast Therapeutics, a US-based developer of respiratory disease therapies based on research at University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, has secured $15m in a series A round that included pharmaceutical firm Shionogi, Wral TechWire has reported.
The company revealed it had raised funding last month without giving a precise amount. It has also received a $300,000 award from non-profit organisation the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to study the effects of chemical substances on living organisms.
Vast is developing treatments that deploy nitric oxide, a molecule that is produced naturally by the body, to help the immune system respond to severe respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis.
The company’s lead drug candidate, BIOC51, is a powder that will be inhaled by patients to treat infections in the lungs. The series A proceeds will fund human trials of BIOC51 later this year, John Oakley, Vast’s chief financial officer, told Wral TechWire.
The technology was pioneered by Vast’s president, Mark Schoenfisch, a distinguished professor in UNC Chapel Hill’s department of chemistry.
Neal Hunter, Vast’s chairman and CEO, said: “Our objective is to completely disrupt the paradigm of treating infections. Our technology can solve a major problem at a time when that problem is creating a dire situation for public health.
“We have always realised that it would take more than one company to optimise our technology and Shionogi’s commitment to anti-infectives puts them in a small class of larger pharmaceutical companies who have an ability to develop advanced pharmaceutical products and bring them to market quickly.”
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.

Vast Therapeutics, a US-based developer of respiratory disease therapies, has secured $15m in a series A round that included pharmaceutical firm Shionogi, Wral TechWire has reported.

The company revealed it had raised funding last month without giving a precise amount. It has also received a $300,000 award from non-profit organisation the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to study the effects of chemical substances on living organisms.

Vast is developing treatments that deploy nitric oxide, a molecule that is produced naturally by the body, to help the immune system respond to severe respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis.

The company’s lead drug candidate, BIOC51, is a powder that will be inhaled by patients to treat infections in the lungs. The series A proceeds will fund human trials of BIOC51 later this year, John Oakley, Vast’s chief financial officer, told Wral TechWire.

The technology was licensed from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where it was pioneered by Vast’s president, Mark Schoenfisch, a distinguished professor at the university’s department of chemistry.

Neal Hunter, Vast’s chairman and CEO, said: “Our objective is to completely disrupt the paradigm of treating infections. Our technology can solve a major problem at a time when that problem is creating a dire situation for public health.

“We have always realised that it would take more than one company to optimise our technology and Shionogi’s commitment to anti-infectives puts them in a small class of larger pharmaceutical companies who have an ability to develop advanced pharmaceutical products and bring them to market quickly.”